Photo 1. Group photo of the ASEAN Energy Gender Week 2026
Manila, 30 March – 2 April 2026 – Marking a defining moment in ASEAN’s energy transition journey, the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) convened the ASEAN Energy Gender Week in Manila, the Philippines on 30 March to 2 April 2026, ushering in the region’s first-ever dedicated week-long platform to place Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) at the centre of energy discourse. More than just a convening, the event signalled a shift in how ASEAN envisions its energy future: one that not only accelerates decarbonisation, but ensures that no one is left behind.
Supported by the World Bank, the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM), Oxfam and the ASEAN Climate Change and Energy Project (ACCEPT), the four-day convening built upon the momentum of the inaugural ASEAN Energy Gender Forum held in Malaysia in 2025. It also comes at a pivotal time, following the endorsement of the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) 2026–2030, which places Just and Inclusive Energy Transition (JIET) at the heart of regional energy cooperation.
Through this mandate, ACE convened a wide array of participants including the energy sector, gender, climate change, and environment, among others—bridging cross-sectoral conversations. Notably, the platform expanded its reach beyond traditional stakeholders, creating space for voices that are often underrepresented in regional discussions, including indigenous communities and persons with disabilities. In doing so, the ASEAN Energy Gender Week not only convened conversations, but also signalled a more inclusive direction for ASEAN’s energy future.
Day 1: ASEAN Energy Gender Forum 2026
The first day featured the ASEAN Energy Gender Forum 2026, supported by the World Bank. The Forum was led by Nathania Azalia, Research Analyst at ACE, as Master of Ceremony, followed by opening remarks from Dato’ Ir. Ts. Razib Dawood, Executive Director of ACE, H.E. Christian Halaas Lyster, Ambassador of Norway to the Philippines, Ditte Juul Jørgensen, Director-General at the European Commission, and Lee McDonough, Director General, Net Zero, Nuclear and International at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Government of the United Kingdom. Furthermore, Dir. Michael O. Sinocruz, Alternate SOE Leader and Director of Energy Policy and Planning Bureau at Department of Energy (DOE) Philippines delivered a keynote speech as part of the 2026 ASEAN Chairship. Each of them conveyed their continued commitment to the shared goal of advancing women’s participation in the energy sector.
Photo 2. (From left to right) H.E. Christian Halaas Lyster, Ambassador of Norway to the Philippines, Dato’ Ir. Ts. Razib Dawood, Executive Director of ACE, Dr Zulfikar Yurnaidi, Head of the Energy Modelling and Policy Planning (MPP) Department at ACE, Yosiyana Badariah, Partnerships Manager at CEM, Dir. Michael O. Sinocruz, Alternate SOE Leader, Director of Energy Policy and Planning Bureau at DOE Philippines, Aldilla Noor Rakhiemah, Project Manager of ACCEPT, Shubert Ciencia, Energy Justice and ASEAN Engagement Program Manager, Oxfam Pilipinas.
The day’s session continued with a scene-setting presentation by Aldilla Noor Rakhiemah, Project Manager of ACCEPT. She outlined the current challenges and opportunities in advancing JIET in the region and how ACE can address them through its roles as a catalyst, think tank, and knowledge hub.
Photo 3. Scene setting presentation by Aldilla Noor Rakhiemah, Project Manager of ACCEPT
After the opening session, the first panel commenced, with the title “Embedding GEDSI in Energy Project Design and Delivery,” which aimed to collect insights on how GEDSI can be systematically embedded in energy projects to maximise benefits for all communities. The panel featured Helle Buchave, Senior Social Development Specialist and Global Gender Lead at the World Bank, Chieko Yokota, International Development Specialist at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Siriporn Parvikam, Project Director at GIZ Thailand, Etwin Sabarini, Program Impact Manager at ClimateWorks Centre, and moderated by Indira Pradnyaswari, Research Analyst at ACE.
Photo 4. Panel: Embedding GEDSI in Energy Project Design and Delivery.
(From left to right) Indira Pradnyaswari, Research Analyst at ACE, Siriporn Parvikam, Project Director at GIZ Thailand, Helle Buchave, Senior Social Development Specialist and Global Gender Lead at the World Bank, Etwin Sabarini, Program Impact Manager at ClimateWorks Centre. Chieko Yokota, International Development Specialist at the ADB
Following the first panel, Ayu Abdullah, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Energy Action Partners (ENACT) shared her journey in driving energy access for the community in the session “REal Talk: Women at the Frontline of the Energy Transition.” She shared her organisation’s initiatives at the grassroot level through the adoption of renewable energy systems to increase energy access.
Photo 5. Ayu Abdullah, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Energy Action Partners (ENACT) during “REal Talk: Women at the Frontline of the Energy Transition”
The second and last panel of the day served as a continuation of the topic of community empowerment, titled “Empowering Women's Community in Energy Transition,” highlighting best practices of women’s empowerment in region’s energy transition. The panel featured Rinna Sijabat, Founder of Women in Energy Indonesia, Phuong Tran, Member of the Management Board at Women in Energy Vietnam Network, Marie A. Bangabang, Project Manager at Oxfam Pilipinas, Yosiyana Badariah, Partnership Manager at CEM, Sohel Ahmed, Chief Executive at WePower, and moderated by Auliya Febriyanti, Research Analyst at ACE.
Photo 6. Panel 2: Empowering Women's Community in Energy Transition
(From left to right) Auliya Febriyanti, Research Analyst at ACE, Phuong Tran, Member of the Management Board at Women in Energy Vietnam Network, Yosiyana Badariah, Partnership Manager at CEM, Marie A. Bangabang, Project Manager at Oxfam Pilipinas, Rinna Sijabat, Founder of Women in Energy Indonesia, Sohel Ahmed, Chief Executive at WePower
Day 2 – Workshop on Driving Gender Equality and Inclusion in Energy Employment
The second day featured the Workshop on Driving Gender Equality and Inclusion in Energy Employment, co-organised with CEM and in collaboration with TARA Climate Foundation. It was designed to strengthen and accelerate gender equality and inclusion in the region’s energy workforce—highlighting key gaps, successful initiatives, and available international support to enhance women’s participation in energy employment. It featured a panel session and two interactive sessions for a more hands-on approach.
The session was opened with remarks by Jamie Choi, Chief Executive Officer of TARA Climate Foundation, Dr Zulfikar Yurnaidi, Head of the Energy Modelling and Policy Planning (MPP) Department at ACE, Dir. Michael O. Sinocruz, Alternate SOE Leader and Director of Energy Policy and Planning Bureau of the DOE, Philippines, Yosiyana Badariah, Partnership Manager at Clean Energy Ministerial, and Christina Paradiso, Director General of Energy Policy and International Affairs at Natural Resources Canada.
Laying the foundations of the day’s workshop is the panel session titled “Turning Gender Equality and Inclusive Commitments into Action,” discussing real-world experiences of persisting barriers that limit women’s participation in the energy workforce. It also discussed successful public and private initiatives that can be replicated and scaled in the region. The panel featured Miguel Musngi, Assistant Director/Head of Poverty Eradication and Gender Division at the ASEAN Secretariat, Ann Francisco, Asia Pacific Director at the Global Wind Energy Council, Dr Nareswari Sumarsono, Manager Corporate Strategy at Pertamina New and Renewable Energy, Bernadette Anne Buensuceso, Philippines Country Director of Youth for Energy Southeast Asia (Y4E-SEA), and moderated by Shikha Bhasin, Partnership Manager at CEM.
Photo 7. (Left to right) Shika Basin, Partnership Manager at CEM, Miguel Musngi, Assistant Director/Head of Poverty Eradication and Gender Division at the ASEAN Secretariat, Ann Francisco, Asia Pacific Director at the Global Wind Energy Council, Dr Nareswari Sumarsono, Manager Corporate Strategy at Pertamina New and Renewable Energy, Bernadette Anne Buensuceso, Philippines Country Director of Y4E-SEA
Led by Azadeh Badieijaryani, Scientific Project Manager at the Austrian Society for Environment and Technology (ÖGUT) with a presentation from Juliette Denis-Senez, Policy Analyst of People-Centred Clean Energy Transitions at the International Energy Agency (IEA), the workshop was made up of two engaging interactive sessions with two distinct focuses. The first session focused on assessing regional challenges and priorities, followed by discussions on existing global platforms as potential tools for regional solutions in the second session. The participants were divided into small groups to exchange their views on the topic based on existing on-the-ground realities.
Photo 8. (Left to right) Azadeh Badieijaryani, Scientific Project Manager at ÖGUT, Juliette Denis-Senez, Policy Analyst of People-Centred Clean Energy Transitions at IEA, and participants of the workshop.
Day 3 - Capacity Building on Socially Inclusive and Gender-Responsive Energy Transition
Continuing from the previous day’s workshop, the third day features the Capacity Building on Socially Inclusive and Gender-Responsive Energy Transition, organised under the “Influencing Just Energy Transition (IJET) in ASEAN” with Oxfam. It serves a deeper practical understanding and hands-on exercise to integrate GEDSI into the implementation of the APAEC 2026-2030. The session was opened by Dr Zulfikar Yurnaidi, Head of MPP Department at ACE and Edicio Dela Torre, Member of Board of Trustees of Oxfam Pilipinas.
Photo 9. Edicio Dela Torre, Member of Board of Trustees of Oxfam Pilipinas, giving his opening remarks.
As part of ACE’s commitment to implement JIET and widen its reach to more ASEAN communities, sharing sessions were held—especially highlighting stories from indigenous communities and peoples with disabilities. The sharing sessions featured Robeliza Halip, Executive Director of Right Energy Partnership, Dante Rigmalia, Chairperson of the National Commission Disabilities of the Republic of Indonesia, Yoon Loong Wong, Executive Director of the National Council for the Blind Malaysia (NCBM), Alfa Nur Aini Erman Efendi, Program Officer at NCBM, and Arthur Macaraeg Letim, Vice-President of Mabini Movement, part of the ASEAN Disability Forum. Their stories enriched the discussions of social inclusion as part of the implementation of JIET, highlighting the need to take into account perspectives of marginalized communities in the energy transition.
Photo 10. (Left to right) Robeliza Halip, Executive Director of Right Energy Partnership, Yoon Loong Wong, Executive Director of the National Council for the Blind Malaysia (NCBM), Alfa Nur Aini Erman Efendi, Program Officer at NCBM, Dante Rigmalia, Chairperson of the National Commission Disabilities of the Republic of Indonesia, Arthur Macaraeg Letim, Vice-President of Mabini Movement
The rest of the day continued with training on existing policy tools, designed to learn and discuss the foundations of energy justice as well as community engagement and benefit-sharing in energy policies and projects. Leading the training on energy justice were Stefan Boessner, Policy Lead at the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and Juliette Denis-Senez, Policy Analyst of People-Centred Clean Energy Transitions at the IEA. The session, moderated by Huiling (Mia) Zhu, Research Associate at SEI, involved reviewing toolkits that have been developed by the SEI and IEA and how it can be implemented at the national and regional level. Furthermore, leading the training on community engagement and benefit-sharing was Dr Jarra Hicks, Director of the Community Power Agency. In the session, participants were given case studies to be analysed from different lenses such as household level and national/municipal level to give a variety of perspectives.
Photo 11. (Left to right) Stefan Boessner, Policy Lead at the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Juliette Denis-Senez, Policy Analyst of People-Centred Clean Energy Transitions at the IEA, Huiling (Mia) Zhu, Research Associate at SEI, Dr Jarra Hicks, Director of the Community Power Agency
Day 4 – Consultation Workshop on the Just and Inclusive Energy Transition Framework in ASEAN
The last day of the ASEAN Energy Gender Week featured the Consultation Workshop on the Just and Inclusive Energy Transition Framework in ASEAN aimed to engage ASEAN Member States (AMS) in sharing their national progress, targets, challenges, and opportunities in implementing JIET. The session provided a space to reflect on emerging practices, identify common priorities, and surface implementation gaps across the region.
Representatives from the Philippines, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Timor-Leste, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand shared insights from their respective national contexts, highlighting ongoing efforts to advance inclusive energy access, strengthen affordability, and integrate social considerations into energy transition strategies. These exchanges reflected the diverse starting points and approaches across ASEAN, while also revealing shared priorities in ensuring that the benefits of the energy transition are distributed more equitably.
Key discussions further highlights cross-cutting challenges, including financing constraints, limited availability of disaggregated data, and the need for stronger institutional coordination to embed GEDSI principles across the policy cycle. In this regard, the importance of developing practical tools, indicators, and monitoring frameworks was emphasised to support ASEAN Member States in translating JIET commitments into measurable outcomes.
The consultation also reinforced the role of regional cooperation in enabling peer learning, knowledge exchange, and capacity building—particularly in aligning national efforts with regional priorities under APAEC 2026–2030. Strengthening linkages between energy, climate, and social policy agendas was identified as a critical step towards advancing a more integrated and inclusive energy transition across ASEAN.
Photo 12. (Left to right) Marietta M. Quejada, Supervising Science Research Specialist, DOE, Socheata Mean, Deputy Director, General Department of General Affairs, Ministry of Mines and Energy, Chansamone Xaiyalath, Deputy Director of Power System Division, Department of Energy Policy, Development Plan and Evaluation, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Eufrasia dos Reis Fatima, Petroleum Audit Activity Manager, SOME Focal Point, National Petroleum Authority, Eleine Juliana binti Malek, Principal Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation Malaysia, Noormaya Muchlis, Executive Director, Women in Mining & Energy, Peeraya Rakudomchock, Plan and Policy Analyst, Ministry of Energy
Overall, the ASEAN Energy Gender Week reaffirmed the region’s commitment to advancing a Just and Inclusive Energy Transition (JIET), in line with the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) 2026–2030, and to strengthening the systematic integration of Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) into energy policy and planning. The discussions reflected a growing recognition that women and marginalised groups are not merely beneficiaries, but key actors in shaping ASEAN’s energy future.
Importantly, the week highlighted that inclusivity must be deliberately embedded across all stages of the policy process, from planning and implementation to monitoring and evaluation. This entails moving beyond a narrow focus on access, towards ensuring equitable participation in employment, decision-making, and benefit-sharing. As ASEAN moves forward, the development of actionable policies, strengthened regional coordination, and the establishment of robust monitoring frameworks will be critical to ensure that the region’s energy transition is not only low-carbon, but also equitable, resilient, and inclusive for all.
